The NBA trade deadline is an exciting time for fans. During the days leading up to it they gather around their computers, tablets, phones and televisions to see the latest and greatest rumors. While the buzz and intrigue about the game is great for the teams, media outlets and those with a rooting interest, there is another side to it all. A more personal side.

While everyone loves watching athletes perform at the highest level on the court, it can cloud our perception. We lose sight of the fact that, in the end, these warriors we metaphorically and emotionally live and die with are simply just regular men with regular feelings who just happen to be extraordinary physical specimens.

That becomes abundantly clear during the trade process to those on the inside.

“It’s the worst part of the job,” Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby said. “I’ve been on both sides of it now. When I was on the agent side you’re just commiserating with your clients around the trade deadline who may be moved. I used to say to people in my law firm ‘imagine if you got up in the morning and somebody said you’ve been traded to a law firm in San Francisco and you have 48 hours to get there.’ It doesn’t happen in any other business. It happens in our business and it’s a part of it and everybody understands it going in. That doesn’t mean it’s easier for your wife, family kids or yourself.”

Jared Dudley, who came to the Suns via trade in 2008, knows all too well the difficulties of the process.

“At that time I didn’t have any kids so it was easier to move,” the swingman said. “I got the call and you have to be there within 48 hours. You pack two or three suitcases and you’re living out of a hotel.”

It’s not just the moving that is difficult, it’s leaving personal relationships behind and trying to form new ones while also trying to do your job at the highest level in a new city.

“You form a relationship with these guy that are here,” Babby said. “We see them every day. We travel with them. You develop those relationships. Whether it’s waiving somebody or trading somebody you can’t not consider the personal aspects of it. At the end of the day though, we have a job that requires us to do what we can and fulfil our obligations to our franchise to do our best to get better.”

Someone who is in the midst of the process, Marcus Morris who just arrived in Phoenix, knows those emotions first hand.

“Being around certain people for a long time and having a good connection with them and having to move is kind of weird,” Morris said sorting through the whirlwind 48 hours he’s just been through. “But moving to be with Keef is like going where family is. Anyone that is close to him will be the same with me because we’re identical personalities.”

It’s not just the player arriving in a new city that has to make an adjustment. His new teammates have to adjust to someone else joining their tight knit group.

“It’s kind of like a brotherhood,” Dudley said of the NBA. “Even though you’re not on the same team, it’s a respect for one another. It’s always difficult at first but then a new guy comes in and you have a new buddy, a new friend and new personalities.”

The key to a smooth transition though is how the organization welcomes a new player and helps make them feel at home as soon as possible. It is something Babby and his staff take a great pride in doing well.

“Everything we do here is about making sure we have an environment that is player friendly and accommodating to our players to give them the best chance to succeed,” he said. “We do everything we can to welcome them and their families. With Marcus it’s easy because he has a built in advantage and been an honorary member of the family all along.”

Basketball is a business and player movement is inevitable. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a very real and personal effect both for those leaving an organization and those coming in that comes along with fans excitement. There’s not just a personnel side but personal side to each trade.

If you’ve been to the movies over the last few weeks or watched television you may have seen someone that looked slightly familiar flash on the screen for a brief second during the previews. The trailer was for what looks like a raunchy romp called Movie 43, and it stars big names such as Emma Stone, Terrence Howard, Dennis Quaid, Greg Kinnear, Common, Seth MacFarlane, Kate Winslet, Jared Dudley, Hugh Jackman and more.

That’s right, that face you thought you recognized, but weren’t sure, was Suns forward Jared Dudley. The Suns swingman, who co-stars — alright appears is probably a more accurate description — in the film with Howard and others. Don’t worry though, the role wasn’t much of a stretch, he just had to play a basketball player.

“It was basketball-related and Terrence Howard was in it so I just gave up an afternoon,” he said. “I was there three or four hours, did the same scene about a hundred times and got out of there.”

While Dudley spent roughly three hours filming his scene, he’ll appear in the film for around three minutes. While he knew his part would be small in the movie, he didn’t realize just how big the names in the rest of the movie would be or how big of an effort it takes to get it all done.

“I didn’t know it was going to be this big,” Dudley said with amazement. “ I didn’t know all these actors were going to be in it.

“It’s kind of cool seeing that. Actors gained my respect so much. I had one line and I’m going to be in the movie for two minutes, but those actors that put months upon months in I have a different respect for.”

Will they have respect for his performance though? Dudley seems to think so. When you ask him on a scale of one to five stars to rate his performance, he gives a pretty honest, yet gracious, assessment.

“Three and a half [stars],” he said with a chuckle. “I definitely carried the other athletes, Corey Brewer and Larry Sanders. I’m going to go see it. It’s kind of cool to go see a movie I’m in for a split section.”

It’s no surprise that, as a big movie fan, Dudley may have caught the acting bug. Does that mean we can expect him to star in any other films anytime soon?

“I’m trying to work something out with Space Jam 2,” he said sarcastically. “Hopefully I’m going to be in it. We’ll see.”

Indeed we’ll see. He may not be Michael Jordan on the court, but maybe he can outdo him on the big screen. We’ll find out Friday when Movie 43 debuts in theaters.

In every edition of Pick N’ Pop, Suns.com catches up with a member of the Suns family to discuss personal preferences in all things pop culture. As always, we encourage you to check out our lists, watch the video for some elaboration and weigh in with your opinion in the comment section below.[Read more...]

Suns One on One host Greg Esposito, along with Suns.com’s Brad G. Faye, caught up with swingman Jared Dudley to talk about one of his favorite subjects. No, not basketball, they talked movies. Dudley breaks down what makes a good film, talks about his favorite comedies of all-time and give his analysis on the new film Flight. Plus he goes one on five answering five rapid fives questions. All that and more in this week’s edition of Suns One On One.

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Don’t forget you can find a new episode of the show here every week, you can also subscribe to the show on iTunes and listen in the official Suns App.

The four years a person spends in high school are the most formative of their life. At least that’s what the experts say. You grow and mature both mentally and physically so much so that by the end of that period of your life you’re barely recognizable. The people you interact with, and the school you attend, go a long way to forming who you’ll become in life. [Read more...]

Ryan Read believes that Jared Dudley has a story to share with young basketball hopefuls.

And a chance for Valley basketball players of all ages to learn from the Suns guard as well as Read – who serves as Dudley’s full-time trainer and the owner of the specialized training company Thrive – will come up on September 22 at Scottsdale Community College.

The two friends from high school will be putting on a free basketball clinic, which will be broken up between two sessions that Saturday. If interested, people are encouraged to sign up at Thrivestrength.com.

The camp won’t just focus on basketball skills and fundamentals, but on the overall message that Dudley can convey to kids interested in the game of basketball.

“Jared has an amazing story to share with people who are interested not only in basketball but in athletic competition,” Read said. “Some people thought Jared wouldn’t make it; instead they just said he needed to be more athletic or more talented.

“But the guy just puts his nose down and works.”

Over the course of his career in the NBA, Dudley believes the work he has put in has paid off in more minutes on the court and more production while he plays. That was most evident a year ago when he averaged a career-best 12.7 points per game.

But he also wants his work ethic to show in the community as well.

“Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve always had a lot of people who were involved in the community,” Dudley said. “I’m trying to put my twist on it, and my twist is just to have a free basketball clinic.

“I wish I could’ve had that growing up as a kid.”

He has also promised to bring other Suns players into the fold for the one-day clinic. Dudley said that teammates like Goran Dragic, Kendall Marshall and Channing Frye will be there to sign autographs.

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